OFB is issuing the following public service announcement. Do not visit the Washington Capitals Official Message Boards for the next 36 hours. Watching the last several games have been hard enough, but looking over the boards, you'd think the sky was falling. Some samples:

Last Straw?, What are the odds of OV and Semin demanding trade???

Congrats Ted, GMGM and Hanlon. You've done a great job with one of the biggest (potential) stars to come into the NHL in years. Good work.

I do know that management , at the very least, appears naive and lacks the ability to recognize hockey talent.

April fools?, we are watching the fools kill two bright hockey careers before our very eyes! Get a coach, spend some money, make the playoffs idiots.

Why is the sky is falling over there? Because the players held a 15-minute, closed-door meeting in which no one from the team (because it was closed doors) will discuss what was said. Afterward, Ovechkin broke his stick into four pieces and left with Semin without speaking to the media . . . and apparently destroyed his iPod. It seems to us, from the outsider vantage we necessarily have with this, that Kolzig simply played his usual leadership role within that meeting -- precisely what he's lauded for. As ever, there is competitive fire in his belly. Per Tarik, Kolzig said

"I'm sure he's probably frustrated with what happened and in the meeting. And that's really all I'm going to say. It wasn't targeted at Ovie. He's obviously our guy. But it was something he didn't want to hear."

We ought to have been concerned if this team wasn't reacting with outrage and disgust over all this losing. More: has any among us not had a really, really bad day at the office, left a meeting or conference call fuming, steam coming out our ears? Sure we haven't gone Domi on an expensive piece of electronics, but then again, that's chump change to millionaires.